Jacks Grind Out Win Over Western Illinois

Friday, December 28

Macomb, Ill.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

9-5, 1-0

Western Illinois

4-10, 0-1

South Dakota State

Western Illinois

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

12/28/2018 9:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill.—South Dakota State women's basketball coach Aaron Johnston picked up his 450^th win as the Jackrabbits held off Western Illinois, 93-84, Friday night in their Summit League opener in front of 389 fans at Western Hall.

The Jackrabbits improved to 9-5, 1-0 while the Fighting Leathernecks drop to 4-10, 0-1.

SDSU had five players score in double digits led by Macy Miller and Madison Guebert, who each scored 20 points. Tagyn Larson added 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Myah Selland and Paiton Burckhard each chipped in 11 points.

Western Illinois was led by Elizabeth Lutz's game-high 28 points.

In the first quarter, Miller scored nine consecutive points to give the Jackrabbits a 14-9 lead with 3:47 to play. A Guebert 3-pointer at 2:32 capped a 7-1 run to put SDSU up 21-10.

Western Illinois used a 12-2 run to tie the game at 29 with 5:46 to play in the second quarter. A 10-2 run pushed the Jackrabbits' lead to 11 points, 45-34, at 2:36 when Guebert scored five consecutive points. Burckhard scored the final four points for SDSU to give the Jacks a 49-37 halftime lead.

Lindsey Theuninck and Larson combined for eight points to give SDSU an 11-point lead, 71-60, with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. The Fighting Leathernecks then cut the lead to five, 71-66, at the end of the quarter when Lutz sank back-to-back 3-pointers.

Larson and Tylee Irwin scored the Jackrabbits' first nine points to open the final quarter and give State an 80-68 lead at 6:40. Western Illinois got as close a six points twice, the last at 4:49.

Notes

The Jackrabbits improved to 10-2 in Summit League openers and 5-1 in road openers.
SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston now has a 450-154 (.745) career record. He is also 152-31 (.830) in Summit League games.
The last time two Jackrabbits scored 20-or-more points in a game was when Irwin and Miller scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, against Savannah State Dec. 14.
The last time five Jacks scored in double digits was against North Dakota State in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Tournament March 3, 2018.
Miller's 20 points moved her within 44 points of becoming the first women's player at State to reach the 2,000-point plateau. She now has 1,956 career points. The point guard is also 322 points shy of becoming The Summit League's all-time scoring leader.
Guebert is now 29 points short of moving into eighth in career scoring at SDSU. She now has 1,534 career points.

Up Next
South Dakota State returns to the road when it plays at Purdue Fort Wayne Thursday at 4 p.m.

For more information on the South Dakota State women's basketball team, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksWBB) or like South Dakota State women's basketball on Facebook.

-GoJacks.com-